I suppose this deck is fine on a level... but it's rather a weak use for Grand Architect. The strength of the card isn't the Anthem ability, but how well it plays with artifacts, and there are just not enough artifacts to matter in this deck. You could replace Grand Architect with Silver-inlaid dagger and i doubt it would impact it's performance.

I just would rather not waste the Architect's potential by placing it in a Pike Delver Shell, that's all. Pike Delver does just fine without it.

I think it looks to be pretty awesome. Looks like a good way to get those swords through counter Magic or to leave counter Magic up. I'll think about sleeving something like it up in the future for FNM. Looks to be fun and a cool twist on traditional Delver lists.

This just seems like downgraded Delver deck. Nakamura played something similar to this at GP: Orlando without the budget restriction and I think he top 32ed, but I can't see why you would jam with this if R/G aggro and reanimator decks are both bad matchups. What's its strong matchup? It's not the virtual mirror since a non-budget delver deck would beat you on card quality and I doubt UB or Planeswalker control cares much about Spined Thopter beatdowns.

Why was the flashbacked Unburial Rites not Negated, since Dissipate is a far more versatile counter (and is even better against a Reanimation deck if you get a creature like Inferno Titan)?Anyway, the deck looks fun and I want to try it. Definitely want to add more artifacts like Wurmcoil Engine, similar to the building on a budget deck that had grand architects, wurmcoils, and phantasmal images and such.

"Dismember is an incredible removal spell for a mono-blue deck. I don't think this deck can afford the pain of more than one Dismember, considering it's already playing Gitaxian Probe and Spined Thopter."

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but there is no "pain" (life loss) from casting Gitaxian Probe or Spined Thopter in a mono-blue deck. Their costs can be paid with blue mana. It's not just big glaring legality errors, but little details like this that really weaken this column from week to week.

"Dismember is an incredible removal spell for a mono-blue deck. I don't think this deck can afford the pain of more than one Dismember, considering it's already playing Gitaxian Probe and Spined Thopter."

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but there is no "pain" (life loss) from casting Gitaxian Probe or Spined Thopter in a mono-blue deck. Their costs can be paid with blue mana. It's not just big glaring legality errors, but little details like this that really weaken this column from week to week.

You're right that it's possible to avoid hurting yourself, but Spined Thopter is only in the deck in the first place because he wants to cast it for two mana, not let it be a crappy artifact Wind Drake. Yes, phyrexian mana lets you play off-color cards, but it's also useful for reducing costs.

2. Every time I try to make a deck with the architects mana ability I seem to run into the problem of consistency.

I guess the real question is, how do you make a Grand Architect consistent?

Specifically assuming you are not countered any deck with a grand architect in it needs to be playing that card by turn 3. It seems that any deck based on using its mana ability for artifacts seriously falls apart if you do NOT land an architect at that point in time.

This guy is my favorite 'lord' as well. But it seems every time I make a deck that on paper looks like it could dish out some serious power I'm finding myself scooping cards because I can't find an Architect when I need one.

According to everyone on these forums. You should only play the best decks in whatever format you want. You are a bad player and should just quit if you intend on using anything else.

They should really start enforcing MtGO video recording of the playtests in each deckbuilding column. Pratically all the main websites do it, why can't the mothership get back on the train too?

Well, he was playing against people in his shop. I don't know if he should be forced to play online instead of paper magic just so we can see recordings of his games.

I don't mean strictly forced...but incentivated to. Video coverage of playtest is the current present and future of Magic for these deckbuilding articles all around the interwebs' main MtG websites. Text coverage is decent in some areas, but it's more restrictive on what he can actually put inside the article for his column. He can spare the good ol' keyboard and input more important and interesting content via video (actual full matches, actual gameplay of the deck in action, his thought patterns and analysis), which is more profitable for both him and us. Video is also more alluring for many viewers out there, which means more clicks on his article.

I don't mean he should always do MtGO video playtest, but he could at least rotate between written and video gameplay, depending on his availability. I also think many other columns in Daily MtG could profit from more video content.

I don't want to beat a guy when he's down, with that pretty major error last week...but where did that Man Leak in the second Game come from? He didn't have it in his opening hand, and he didn't draw it. When he mentioned Mana Leak I thought he was referring to the Negate in his hand, but then he mentioned that the Negate was left at the end.

This was exactly what I'm looking for out of a budget-deckbuilding column: a deck that's easy to put together, fun to play, and competitive enough to pull a decent FNM record coupled with suggestions on how to invest more in the deck if I end up liking it enough to continue with it. Kudos!

As far as the deck goes, it might be worth trying out Gust Skimmer. You talk about flying creatures being important in the R/G matchup, and it gives you explosive turns that involve Architect into Thopter into Skimmer. One of my favorite things about Architect is that it doesn't require the creature to lose summoning sickness before it can tap for mana, and including another 2-mana evasive artifact takes good advantage of this.

i don't see how Snapcaster Mages are as good as people say it is. shure you can replay a spell so what? (im ready to peged w/ hate mail for dissing a 30$ card) i'm just glad that the only 30$ card ive opened in a boster pack was a Sorin, lord of innistrad.

I am both rational and instinctive. I value self-knowledge and understanding of the world; my ultimate goal is self-improvement and improvement of the world around me. At best, I am focused and methodical; at worst, I am obsessive and amoral.

MaRo: One of the classic R&D stories happened during a Scars of Mirrodin draft. Erik Lauer was sitting to my right (meaning that he passed to me in the first and third packs). At the end of the draft, Erik was upset because I was in his colors (black-green).

He said, "Didn't you see the signals? I went into black-green in pack one."

I replied, "Didn't you see my signals? I started drafting infect six drafts ago." ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************MaRo: During a playtest, I played a Reaper from the Abyss. I attacked each turn, while my opponent would chump block (he had a lot of fliers), and then I killed a second creature. This happened until he had only one creature left. I attack, he blocked, and then the following dialogue occurred:

Him: Kill your demon. Me: What? Him: My guy died so you have to kill a creature.

Me: Yeah, but why would a demon kill himself?

Him: I don't know. He's depressed there's no one left to kill.

Me: That doesn't make any sense. Him: I don't care. It's what the card says. I then take out my pen, and wrote "non-Demon" on it.

i don't see how Snapcaster Mages are as good as people say it is. shure you can replay a spell so what? (im ready to peged w/ hate mail for dissing a 30$ card) i'm just glad that the only 30$ card ive opened in a boster pack was a Sorin, lord of innistrad.

Being able to play any instant/sorcery from your graveyard is a powerful effect. It's sort of like a graveyard tutor (although it can be weak very early in the game). The 2/1 body is also useful, especially in an aggressive deck like this, and flash is a nice bonus.

i don't see how Snapcaster Mages are as good as people say it is. shure you can replay a spell so what? (im ready to peged w/ hate mail for dissing a 30$ card) i'm just glad that the only 30$ card ive opened in a boster pack was a Sorin, lord of innistrad.

Deck looks interesting. And devoid of crippling clerical errors. I like it.
As for the Snapcaster Mage dispute, it's difficult to describe until you play with it yourself. The closest card to Snapcaster in terms of what it does is Eternal Witness. Putting a 2/1 into play and getting to reuse a given card is enough to tip the balance of most games. Snapcaster finds a home in any deck with Islands, and Eternal Witness is usually found in GW or Zoo lists (where she shines like Venus).

i don't see how Snapcaster Mages are as good as people say it is. shure you can replay a spell so what? (im ready to peged w/ hate mail for dissing a 30$ card) i'm just glad that the only 30$ card ive opened in a boster pack was a Sorin, lord of innistrad.

If I can say this any better than the others:

The point is that, after a long game, whichever spell you really wish you could draw to win the game, well, it's probably in your graveyard somewhere. Snapcaster will give you that spell, and that's absolutely life-gaving. In the mid-game, even if you only have a few spells - well, they probably don't suck, and so getting them back is awesome. You could counter something, draw cards, force through damage, kill a guy, or one of so many other things. In the early game, even if you have no spells in your graveyard, Snapcaster Mage is still a decent attacker and blocker, and he can come into play at instant speed to mess up your opponent's math.

And he's blue, the color with the best instants and sorceries to flash back, and the worst creatures to replace.

I think the deck is very well constructed on a true budget. I would love to see someone build a deck at this price that is better with this kind of interaction. I am building the deck to play at a shop where top 8 decks are all you will see just to see what happens.